Cigarette Ads Tout Brooklyn’s ‘Hipster’ Image

New York City health officials lashed out at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. on Thursday over its a marketing campaign for Camel cigarettes that features Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.

At issue is an online contest called “Break Free Adventure,” in which participants guess where the cigarette brand’s mascot will visit during a certain week. Cities like Austin, Texas, Seattle and San Francisco have also been featured.

In the third week of the contest, the camel ended up in Williamsburg. “Some call it the most famous hipster neighborhood,” reads the online blurb for the destination. “It’s about last call, a sloppy kiss goodbye and a solo saunter to a rock show in an abandoned building. It’s where a tree grows. It’s Camel in the Williamsburg corner of Brooklyn.”

Thomas Farley, the city’s health commissioner, blasted the marketing ploy. “It’s cynical for a tobacco company to launch a branding scheme that tries to exploit the life and energy of our streets to market an addictive product that kills roughly a third of its users,” he said.

David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, said that the contest “is basically a celebration of locations across the country.” He added: “It’s a respectful and a very nice depiction” of Williamsburg.

A limited-edition Williamsburg-branded Camel pack of cigarettes will be sold during December and January, Mr. Howard said. The other nine cities featured in the contest will also get their own branded cigarettes.

This isn’t the first time that location-based branding has stirred controversy for R.J Reynolds. The cigarette maker launched a special brand of Camel cigarettes called “Kauai Kolada,” named after the Hawaiian island. The cigarettes drew heavy criticism from Hawaiian public officials.